History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 133

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 133

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"6th. By Maj. Vote, Eben Scofield, John Fincher, Samuel Ferris, Nath1 Bouton and Israel Lockwood are appointed Committees to act on the affair of building the Meeting-Hlouse on the Ilill aforesaid.

"7th. By Maj. Vote it is concluded that the Meeting-House should be clabboarded.

" 8th. By Maj. Vote it is concluded to buildl a Meeting. llonse 36 ft. long, 30 ft. wide with 16 ft. Posts.

"9th. By Maj. Vote it is concluded that if the aforesaid Com. can get the Subscription of 67 ť, that the Com. is to proceed in building. Furthermore, every one that subscribes to give any thing towards the building, is hereby obligated to pay their respective subscriptions on the Committee's demand, either in work or money.

" 10th. By vote it is com Inded that common laborers shall have 2s. "id. per day and a Man and Team of 4 cattle shall have Gs, per day.

"In pursuance of the foregoing resolutions," says an old record, "a meeting-house was erected on the site where the present meeting-honse stood in the highway, previous to its removal to the present site, and which first meeting-house was built soon after the meeting was held, as last stated, but having been burnt by a detachment of the British dragoons, under command of Colonel Tarleton, on the 2d of July, 1779, the present house was erected on the same site in the year 1786, and removed a little far- ther back from the highway to its present position, in 1833."

The Presbyterian congregation thus organized was

& COPY OF OLD RECORD .- " It will be recollected that in the early set- flement of Poundridge, it was within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rye and tributary or paid tithes to the support of the Episcopal Clergy of the present Township of Rye. The nrst settlement of Ponadridge was under a grant from the Gen. Court of Ct. in lost, and was mostly included within the limits of that grant. After the establishment of the present boundary line of Connectient in 1730, four miles of the territory adjoin- ing Connectient was claimed by the Patentees of the original grant to the Township of Stamford, and by them distributed to the respective owners in 1955, after setting apart a lot of land including the 'Burial Ground ' and nbont ten acres adjoining, at the junction of the roads 24 of u mile South of the Village. This was the first grant of land given for the use of u Presbyterian Minister, and in his alvence, for the use of conuuon school in Poundridge. On this ground the first School-House in the Town was built."

571

POUNDRIDGE.

not incorporated until April 28, 1788, under act of Legislature, passed April 6, 1784. The trustees at the time were

" certified to be Nath! Bonton, William Fancher, John Hoyt, Benaiah Brown, Thaddens Seymour and Ebenezer Seymour, them and their suc- cessors to le a body corporate and forever and hereafter known by the name of the Trustees for the Pres. Ch. and Congregalion of Poundridge to be goverened in discipline and worship according to the Directory of now established church of Scotland.

"Signed by

" JOSEPH LOCK WOOD,

" EBENEZER LOCK WOOD.

" Recorded July 19, 1790."

The first settled minister was the Rev. Mr. Strong, in 1770. Rev. Blackleash Burritt was ordained on the 15th of June, 1774, and continued the settled minister until after 1776. From that time there was no settled minister over the church till 1790, when Rev. Benjamin Judd was ordained. "In the interim

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, POUNDRIDGE.

the church had occasional supplies. Mr. Brush, - Kittletas, - Murdoek (1786) are remembered."1 After Mr. Judd, Rev. Abram Barfield was hired to preach for a year. Next Rev. Samuel Blatchford sup- plied the place and Bedford for a year, when he was called to Greenfield, Connecticut, to suc- ceed Dr. Dwight, called to the presidency of Yale College. Next came Rev. Abner Benedict, who stayed two years and more. In 1800 Rev. Richard Andrus was engaged from year to year, to preach and continued, with the exception of one ycar (1817), until the fall of 1818. Mr. Bron- son, of Yorktown, then preached half the time for a year, and was succeeded in the summer of 1819 by Rev. John G. Lowe, who stayed until January, 1822.

Up to 1800 the church had been in connection

with the Presbytery of Dutchess, but Mr. Andrus and Mr. Lowe belonged to a Presbytery 2 which had seceded from the Synod and Presbytery of Dutchess, and during their ministry the relations of the church to its own Presbytery practically ceascd. In 1822 the church sent a memorial to the Presbytery of North River, asking to be reorganized and received under its care. The request was granted, and the Rev. Jacob Green, of Bedford, and Rev. C. F. Butler, of South Salem, were appointed a committee to visit the church and preside over the reorganization. This was effected July 2, 1822. In the year 1828, as some doubt existed with regard to the legal incorporation of the church,3 they resolved upon a new act of in- corporation. This was effected April 22, 1828, under the title of " the Presbyterian Church and Congrega- tion of Poundridge, belonging to the Presbytery of North River, under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Horatio Lockwood, Joseph St. John and Samuel Weed were elected trustees. Signed,

" Witness :

" REUBEN AYRES,

" JACOB GREEN.

" ABIJAH ST. JOHN.

" Recorded April 26, 1828."

Following is a list of the pastors :

When Installed.

Names.

1770

. Rev. - Strong.

1774

Rev. Blackleash Burritt.

1777-88

. Supplies Occasional.

1788

. Rev. Benjamin Judd.

1794

. Rev. Abram Barfield.

1795

Rev. Samnel Blatchford, D.D.

1796

. Rev. Abner Benedict.

1800

Rev. Richard Andrus.

1819

Rev. J. G. Lowe.

1824

Rev. Asahel Bronson.

1825

Rev. Daniel Crocker.

1827

. Rev. Henry Dean.

1832

. Rev. John White.

1833

Rev. Robert G. Thompson.

1835

. Rev. William Patterson.

STATISTICS OF CHURCH MEMEBRSHIP.

Year.

No. Members.

Year.

No. Members.

1788

1856

1806

1866

1826

1876

1836

1884

1846

Rev. William Patterson, the present pastor, came to Poundridge in July, 1835, was ordained February 9, 1836, and completed the fiftieth year of his min- istry in this place on the second Sabbath of July, 1885. Of the sixty-two members of the church at the time of his ordination but four are living,-Sarah C. Patterson (his wife), Charlotte Smith, Sabrina Sniffin and Mrs. Aug. Dixon. His extended pastorate in this place and the estimation in which he is held by

2 Morris County Presbytery.

3 The doubt was caused by the temporary disappearance of the record of incorporation from the county clerk's office. After the termination of a certain lawsuit in which the trustees were engaged on behalf of the church, it was found in its place agaln.

1 Old Record.

572

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the people of this and the adjoining towns calls for something more than brief allusion. A sketch in the Stamford Herald of May 7, 1884, says, -- " He came here a half-century ago in the full flush of youth, fresh from his theological studies in Philadelphia. After a brief residence he married Miss Sarah Thatcher, a resident of the village and a member of one of the most prominent families of the time, and through the whole fifty years of his ministerial work she has been a most faithful and happy ally in her husband's pastoral labor. She has shared in an equal degree the honor, respect and love ever accorded to Mr. Patterson, and with him has withstood in a remark- able degree the advance of years. In this aged min- ister gentleness, refinement, scholarship and piety are beautifully blended in a character which his

REV. WILLIAM PATTERSON.

parishioners truly revere ; and their friendship, cemented by years of affectionate intercourse, is tender, close and beautiful. In his nature Rev. Mr. Pat- terson is genial and generous-hearted. He is possessed of intellectual power and strong sympathies, and gifted with great personal magnetism. In personal appearance he is not at all bowed down by the weight of years, but is erect, of average height and somewhat inclined to embonpoint,-in short, an example of splendid physical development. His hair, always closely trimmed, has been for many years white as the driven snow, and more than aught else gives him the appearance of age. In conversation he is ex- ceedingly interesting, and his language sparkles with the proverbial wit and humor that characterize his countrymen. His salary is modest, but he occupies a convenient and cosy manse, and lives comfortably ?

and contentedly with his wife and two daughters. The fervent prayer of every member of his congre- gation is that he may be spared many years yet to minister unto them."

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH .- Of the Method- ist Episcopal Congregation of Poundridge, an old record says,-" This religious organization owes its paternity in Poundridge to Henry Eames, a religious enthusiast, born in Ireland, emigrated hither soon after the Revolutionary War, and who may be justly called the Father of Methodism in this place. Eames spent much of his time in endeavoring to make con- verts. About the year 1785 he was visited by Thomas Coke, mentioned in the early history of Methodism as 'Doctor or Bishop Coke.' Coke while here preached in the house of Captain Joseph Lockwood, and was the first Methodist who ever preached in this place. The first converts were made in the neighborhood of Dantown some years after the preaching of Coke, and the first Methodist meeting-house ever built in this or any adjoining town was erected by a few individuals, on land given for the purpose by Squire Dan, near the Connecticut line. This was about 1795. A house was built by individual subscription, and was to be- long to the subscribers in proportion to the sums respectively gave."

The instrument bears date June 10, 1797, and is in these words,-

" POUNDRIDGE, June 10, 1797.

" Whereas, a few of The people of this Society and neighborhood have gone forward and raised and covered a House standing near Sammel Selleck, for the purpose of Publick worship in the name of Methodist, and we being willing to know the Proprietors of said llonse, we do here put the names and the sums of each Proprietor, viz., -

€ &. d.

Squire Dann. 20 2 6

Elisha Waters 0 12 6

Daniel Weed

16 12 9 Darling Selleck : 8 6

James Dann, Jr 12 4 =

Nathan Selleck.

0 14 0

Enoch Stevens.

5 11 G

Isaac Selleck

2 16 2

Samuel Dann

13 14 0

Samuel Selleck

Henry Eames, Jr 3 10 0

Thomas Selleck

4 0

Israel Slason

Jonathan SIason .

200

James Jones

1 1 10 Daniel Slason

1 18

Moses Stevens

6 0

Elihu Slason.

1 10 0

Aaron Waters

2 7

Simeon Shson. 1 16 10

Nathaniel Dann

1 10 Jonas Slason.

1 10 0

James McDonald.

1 4

0 Selleck Scofield

0 12 0

Thomas Enmes.

0 10 0

Brother Lyon 0 10 (

James Dann, Sr .

8 14 3

Brother Sanford 08 0

By these records it appears that the house was owned and built by individuals, each one owning a share in proportion to the size of his contribution, and was not the property of a religious corporation. The building continued to be the settled place of worship of the Methodist Society until a meeting- house was built in the village of Poundridge in 1833, when the Dantown Station was abandoned as the reg- ular place of worship. Most of the owners, however, still adhered to the old church, and meetings con- tinned to be held there in connection with the Methodist Protestant Society of East Poundridge.1

1 They also objected To The use of the word Episcopal and to The govern- ment by Bishops, holding That the simple word Methodist was The title of the Church.

573

POUNDRIDGE.

The dissensions that arose finally resulted in the pulling down of the old church in 1842, when the Rev. Mr. Sizer was on the circuit.

The Methodist Episcopal congregation was first incorporated in 1822, James Brown, John Haws and Samuel K. Olmsted, trustees. A second incorporation took place December 21, 1832, and about this time a lot was purchased in the village and a house of worship erected adjoining the residence of the late Judge Ezra Lockwood.

Following is a list of the ministers in charge :

Date of Service.

Name.

1833-34.

Revs .- - Francis.

Hibbard.

1835

Davenport.

1836

Hill and Ostrander.

1837

Gothard.

1838

Oldrin.

1839

J. Stebbins.

1840

I. Sanford.

1841-42

Sizer.

1843

Washburn.

1845

. George Waterbury.

1847

. John T. Mnlnex.

1848-49.

. W. W. Brewer.

1850-51.

. M. N. Olmsted.

1852-53

J. A. Selleck.

1854-55

. J. Ilenson.

1856-57.

E. Oldrin.

1858-59.

Harvey Husted.

1860-61

T. D. Little.

1862-63

. F. W. Smith.

1864-65

. A. K. Crawford.

1866

W. Ross.

1867-69

H. Scofield.

1870

W. H. Bangs.

1871-72

. W. Gothard.

1873-74

. W. L. Holmes.

1875-76

. J. II. Crofut.

1877-78

. Sylvester Smith.

1879-80 .

. W. T. Gilbert.

1881-83

. B. A. Gilman.

1884

. J. S. Ilangh.

The number of church members in 1885 was seventy.

The church is attached to the New York East Con- ference, and at present the church at High Ridge, Conn., is combined with it, under the care of the same pastor.

M. E. CHAPEL .- In 1873 a society was formed and a neat little chapel built at Great Hill, in the south- west part of the town. This is in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has regular preaching by a minister on this circuit. The number of members at present is twenty-eight.

The following ministers have had charge: Revs. Goodenough, Baker, Taylor, Powell, Still, Roden, Diossy, La Cour, Bennetto and Seiber.

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH .- In the year 1834 a church was erected in East Poundridge, on a site given by Seeley Fancher. The society was formed several years previous to this, but was not incorpo- rated until March 14, 1833, under the title, "The Methodist Protestant Church and Society in Pound- ridge." It was reincorporated November 2, 1846, ii .-- 50

under the title " The Trustees of the Methodist P'rot- estant Society of Poundridge." Seeley Fancher, Wil- liam Brown and Joseph Waterbury were the trustees. Following is a list of the pastors :

Time of service. Names.

1832-33

Revs. Bosley.

1834

1. Lounsbury.

John Ambler.

1835

I. Lounsbury.

J. Timmermann.

1836-38.

S. N. Henderson.

G. N. Langdon.

1839-41 . M. R. Lent.

E. W. Griswold.

1842-44

Robert Woodruff.

1845-47 .

Ransom Ballon.

1848-50.

. William Harris.

1851-53. William M. II. Smithi.

1854-55 .

. Fred. Dickerman.

1856

O. H. Dickerson.

1857-58

Duke Whitely.

1859-60

Jolm Morris.

1861

Joshna Hudson.

1862-65

J. Il. l'ainter.

1866-67

Stephen Baker.

1868-69

. George W. Dykerman.

1870 .

G. E. Sannderson.

1871

J. G. Dyer.

1872-75

H. S. Hull.

1876-78

Abram J. Conklin.

1879-80

J. 11. Ilolden.

1881-82.

. Samuel Thompson.

1883-85

Theodore L. Dibble.

The present membership of the church numbers fifty-two, having somewhat decreased within the last few years.

CEMETERIES .- Of the burying-places in the town, the oldest is " Burial Hill," about three-fourthis of a mile south of the village. Here lie the remains of some of the earliest inhabitants, and here repose repre- sentatives of all the principal families of the town for more than a century past. But few stones remain to identify the graves of those who were buried previous to 1800, and on part of these the inscriptions are illeg- ible. Among the oldest are "Thaddeus H. Lock wood, died in 1774;" "John Ferris, died 1778;" "A. B., 1771 ;" "J. M. L., 1787 ;" " Major Ebenezer Lock- wood, born 1737, died July 29, 1821 ;"1 "Capt. John Guerrill, born in Nantucket, Mass., Dec. 7, 1795, died in Cronstadt, Russia, June 3d,1831." 2

1 Major Ebenezer Lockwood, son of Captain Joseph Lockwood, came with his father from Stamford in 1744, being then a boy of six. At the death of his father, in 1757, the patrimony of four or five linndred acres (comprising the land on which stands the present village) was divided between himself and only surviving brother. At the age of twenty-five he was appointed one of Ilis Majesty's justices of the peace, an office which he held until the Revolution. Ile took an active part in that struggle, was a major in the Continental army, a member of the Com- umttee of Safety, member of the Provincial Congress, and by his activity was so obnoxious to the British officers that they offered a reward for his lead. After the war he was a member of the convention for forming a State Constitution, was appointed a judge of the county, sent several times to the Legislature and held otlier offices of trust. Ile was the father of lloratio and Judge Ezra Lockwood, both men of some note in the county, and grandfather of the late Alsop HI. Lockwood, for many years supervisor of the town of Poundridge, and at one time sheriff of Westchester County.

2 ('aptain John Guerrill married Hannah Thatcher, a granddaughter of Major Lock wood.

574

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

One of the most prominent is that to the memory of Captain Jonah G. Hoyt,-

" Jonah G. lloyt, Capt. 2d N. Y. S. MI., died July 4, 1863, from wounds received at the battle of Gettysburg, aged 37 yrs. & 10 mo.

" We'll meet again, came from the lips of the warrior, bold and brave, Where war's red plains no more we'll see ; no more the bloody wave. We'll see no more our banner float upon the battle plain, Where war's dread voice strikes on the ear,

On high we'll meet again."

The Presbyterian Society have now a new cemetery about one mile west of the old one, near the residence of D. N. Chichester. The other burial-places are mostly family plots. In one near the chapel at Great Hill is a monument to Captain Greenleaf B. Miller, a promising young officer, and more than ordinarily gifted with qualities that endeared him to a large eircle of friends. He served in the War of the Re- bellion, eulisting as private in the Ninetieth New York Volunteers, and rose by successive steps to the rank of captain. He died while still in the service of his country. He was a contributor to some of the literary papers of the day, and the epitaph on his mon- nment was composed by himself. It is as follows :

" Capt. G. B. Miller 117 U. S. C. T. died at Brazos de Santiago, Texas. March Ist, 1867. aged 34 years. " Thus is human life uncertain As the streamlet's silvery gush ; Like the bird that tarries only For a season in the bush ; Like the Flowers that bloom in antunin Pass we from the stage of life, But we've then a rest eternal, And a home of joy supernal, 'Youd all touch of blight and strife."

SCHOOLS .- The town is divided into seven school districts, and the buildings are so placed that no child is more than one and a half miles from the nearest school-house. The number of children of school age in 1883, was two hundred and thirty-two; in 1884, two hundred and twenty-four. The amount of public money appropriated iu 1884 was $613.99; amount raised by tax in 1884, $720.61-total expense for public schools in 1884, $1334.60.

Gev. J. Smith

CHAPTER XI.

BEDFORD.

BY JOSEPHI BARRETT.

THE town of Bedford is situated about forty miles north of the city of New York. It is bounded north by Somers and Lewisboro, east by Lewisboro and

Poundridge, south by Poundridge and North Cas- tle, and west by New Castle. In shape it is nearly square, except where the Croton River cuts off the northwest corner.

The surface, like that of the neighboring towns, is greatly diversified, forming here and there ridges, mostly fertile and well cultivated, with valleys be- tween, through which flow the principal streams. There are also many hills or peaks, prominent among which are Mount Aspetong, a mile north of Bedford village, and Noname's Hill, called after Noname, one of the Indian chiefs, and Guard Hill, the two last- named in the southern part of the town.

There are plains of considerable extent about Bed- ford village, and one north of Mount Kiseo, called by the early settlers Cisqua Meadow.

The soil varies as greatly as the surface, aud the classification of the Indian deeds, "uplaud, meadow and swamp," still holds good. On the ridges is gen- erally found clay loam. In the valleys are many natural meadows, still untouched by the plow, after two centuries of eivilized ownership, and there are swamps, but of limited area. Nearly every farm has its tract of woodland, a relie of the "forest primeval." A striking natural feature of the soil of the town is a strip of land called sometimes the "Sand Belt," be- ginning at the north side of the town at Katonah and running across the town southeasterly, about parallel with the eastern boundry and averaging half a mile in width. On this tract the uplands are generally loam or sandy knolls, but swamps and natural meadow are found in the low lands.

The principal streams of the town are the Croton (Indian, Kitchawan), which forms the boundary ou the northwest for nearly three miles; the Cross River (ludian, Peppeneghek), named from John Cross, one of the first pioneers; the Mianus, which flows into the town and out again near the southeast corner ; the Beaver Dam, Broad Brook, David's Brook, Miry Brook, Spruce Brook, one of the boundaries of the Indian deeds, Kisco Brook and Kisco River, near Mount Kisco. The last-named was for its whole length, dowu to Croton River, the western boundary of the town as bought from the Iudians.

The people of Bedford are a community of farmers, the substantial descendants, in great part, of the early settlers, whose names are perpetuated throughout the town.

The late James Washington Anderson was the youngest of five children of James W. Anderson, an Englishman by birth, who came to New York to re- side.

His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Semler. She was of an old Knickerbocker family, whose home was a farm-house, standing where Stephenson's car factory now is, in Twenty-seventh Street, New York. Upon her marriage, her father gave to her husband and herself a small farm in the neighborhood, the house beiug at the corner of Twenty-ninth Street and

Has himduson

575

BEDFORD.

Broadway, where the Gilsey House stands. This continued to be their home during their lives, he dy- ing in 1829, and she, surviving him nearly forty years, oeeupying it till her death in 1868. There James Washington Anderson was born June 29, 1817. His edueation was mainly received at private schools in the city, chiefly at Stephens' High School. As he grew into boyhood, he developed such a strong taste for a military life, that it became his father's purpose to send him to West Point, but when he was twelve years old his father died, and the projeet was aban- doned. When old enough, however, he joined the Seventh Company of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, New York State Artillery, and served seven years. This organization was afterwards merged into the now famous Seventh Regi- ment, so that he was one of the Seventh Regiment Veterans. He wasalso in early life an enthusiastie member of the Volunteer Fire Department.

Having inherited from his father property suffi- eient for his comfortable support, he engaged in no business beyond earing for the real estate, which the growth of the city soon brought into the market. He resided with his mother and led a quiet life, finding his amuse- ments in athletic and field sports. On the 10th of Mareh, 1853, he was mar- ried to Miss Harriet E. Cory, of Morristown, N.J., and removed to East Ches- ter, in this eounty, in the month of May follow- ing. For nearly twenty years that was his home. In 1872, he bought the farm in Cherry Street, near Katonah, known as the Alfred Wood place, and lived there for the remainder of his life. Some years later he pur- chased the farm adjoining on the south, known to old residents as the Harry Haight farm, and subse- quently the property formerly owned by Squire Wood, Sr., and other smaller places, and interested himself in their eultivation and improvement. From the time Mr. Anderson eame to the town, he won the respeet and esteem of all who knew him, He took a strong interest in town affairs, and was a liberal and publie spirited eitizen. He was an earnest and uneompromising temperance man, an in the spring of 1880, consented to be the candidate of the " No Lieense " people for Exeise Commissioner, though he

Amas Seroman

had previously declined to accept any publie plaec, and was handsomely elected, being the first man chosen in the town on that issue. He was re- elected in 1883, and held the office at the time of his death.

He was a man of plain tastes, of vivacious temper- ament, of genial and sociable disposition, and of the most serupulous integrity and uprightness. All through his life he was a lover of nature in her va- rious forms, and even his ehance acquaintances knew his enthusiasm for trees and flowers. His long ram- bles with dog and gun, more for the ramble than for the game, were among his greatest pleasures, so long- as his health permitted.

He beeame a member of the Methodist Church while in East Chester. When the new church at Katonah was built in 1875, he was a liberal contributor, and was for several years one of its offieers.'

In the spring of 1883 his constitution was seriously weakened by an attack of pneumonia, which nearly eost him his life. Early in 1885 disease of a pul- monary nature again seized him, and after months of painful illness, he died on October 25, of that year.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 133

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286